Lordi

With Kaledon & Hostile

@ The Relentless Garage

12th May 2013

Review by Anna Dumpe

The 12th of May, 2013, was a rainy day in London when the monsters finally rolled into town. We made our way to the Relentless Garage to see the mighty Lordi tear up London and check out what kind of reckless and shocking stage show they have prepared for us this time. It took 4 years for Lordi to return to the UK, and now they were back with a new album To Beast or not to Beast, slightly different line-up and sounding bigger and better than ever.

The first band on tonight is Hostile; from Black Country, UK.

Hostile

They storm the stage with a lot of confidence and blasting out heavy riffs. Highly influenced by bands like Pantera, Soulfly and Sepultura, Hostile boys put on an incredibly energetic show.

Hostile

Even though the crowd might seem a little stiff, Hostile manage to get the heads banging and fists pumping by performing tracks from their long awaited debut album Eve of Destruction, like “Dig up the Power” and “Addiction”, which was specifically written for Hostile by the one and only K.K. Downing from Judas Priest. It’s a heavy, yet melodic track sounding extremely dark and moody.

Hostile

Hostile

To make things even more exciting, Hostile throw in an epic cover of “Breaking the Law” by Judas Priest and get the whole room singing along. They finish their set with the energetic and pumping “I Don’t Give a Fuck”, which could easily be a song written by the nu-metal masters Drowning Pool or Godsmack.

Hostile

Hostile

Second band on tonight are Italian power metal band Kaledon.

Kaledon

Kaledon

Delivering a technical and enthusiastic set, Kaledon seem to attract the crowd right away.
With high pitch vocals, mind-blowing guitar licks and lyrics about mythical creatures, Kaledon can’t help but to remind of Dragonforce.

Aside from that, their performance is well accepted as they blast out songs from their latest albums Altor: The King’s Blacksmith and Mightiest Hits.

Kaledon

As plenty of people in the crowd tonight seem familiar with Kaledon material, songs like “Steel Maker” and “The New Kingdom” get the audience singing along without a worry. For those who are simply not into power metal music, Kaledon performance might have seemed a bit repetitive and uniform.

Kaledon

Kaledon

However, the musicians’ professional level in the band is undeniable; the guitar parts are sounding unreal as both guitar players Alex Mele and Tommy Nemesio demonstrate their excellent skills by throwing in some pretty epic solos and shredding.

Kaledon

Kaledon

After two very different, yet highly entertaining performances, it is time to welcome the real monsters of rock and horror.

It has been way too long since Lordi performed in London the last time, so it is no surprise that the venue is packed out and the atmosphere in the room is electric.

Lordi

Mr. Lordi has always stated KISS amongst one of his main influences, so it is no surprise when the intro song is nothing but “God of Thunder” to get everyone’s blood pumping. Lordi take the stage looking larger than life and blasting out “We’re Not Bad for The Kids (We’re Worse)” form their latest album To Beast or not to Beast and going straight into the very tongue-in-cheek “Bringing Back the Balls to Rock”.

Lordi

Lordi

Lordi are looking and sounding great with two new bands members now on board. Hella (also knows as ‘Scarbie’) on keyboards and Mana on drums prove themselves as strong characters and an excellent addition to the band.
As well as that, the guitarist Amen is sounding spectacular as he blasts out real heavy riffs and throws is some striking solos.

Lordi

Lordi

Lordi please the audience with more and more hits, like “The Riff”, “Who’s Your Daddy?” and “Girls Go Chopping”, when two minimally dressed girls take the stage to perform with metal grinders. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is only the beginning…

Lordi

When it comes to describing Lordi show, you simply don’t know where to start, as the band uses theatrics and special effects at any given chance. However, on this tour Lordi have refrained from using any pyrotechnics at their shows, but that does not mean that the show is less dynamic and thrilling.

Lordi

Lordi

Mr. Lordi uses plenty of attributes to hold the crowd’s attention, like cryo gun to shoot smoke right into the crowd, chainsaw water pistol and black mechanical wings to make him look even more monstrous and majestic.

If that’s not enough, then during the drum solo, the bass drums actually start to spin around. If you still want more, then Mr. Lordi casually walks on stage with a dead doll that shoots confetti.

Lordi

Lordi

There is not a single thing you can take too seriously about Lordi show, just like the performance of “I’m the Best” when Mr. Lordi is being crowned as the beauty pageant winner, just like once he was crowned as the winner of the Eurovision Contest.

The highly anticipated “Hard Rock Halleluyah” is saved for the encore with other songs, like “Hulking Dynamo”, “Sincerely with Love” and “Would You Love a Monsterman?”. As always, Lordi absolutely own the place with “Hard Rock Halleluyah” and get the whole room singing and sweating along.

Lordi

Lordi

No matter how funny and ridiculous their performance, Lordi remain a significant bunch of professionals when it comes to writing and performing music; it’s just that they like to dress up a little outrageous!

Lordi

Lordi

If you are ever considering going to see Lordi, keep in mind that it is not only a gig, but a full-on rock’n’roll horror ball.
A good time at their show is guaranteed, as it is impossible to keep a straight face while watching the monsters tear up the stage. …Or your money back! Let’s just hope that this time it does not take as long for Lordi to come back to UK in the near future.